The hashtag #PrepareToDine to probably everyone familiar with Dark Souls thought it was a hint towards another Dark Souls, Dark Souls spin off or related title, like Bloodborne. For those who don’t know, the Dark Souls series has a very popular tagline that is “Prepare to Die” relating to how difficult the games are. The 36 second beautiful animation got many excited and marked April 20th on their calendar for what was to be announced. I was one of those people and went on to following Namco Bandai on social media.

Today was the day for the official announcement and the game is called Code Vein, an action RPG. The art and screenshots that were released for Code Vein are similar to a stylized Bloodborne game that takes place in the future of a society similar to ours after things went very bad. However, after reading more about the game on their site, it doesn’t look like it will be a Dark Souls style game.

The game page didn't have a lot of information on the game, just the overview and features. One thing that I noticed was FromSoftware was not the developer. In fact, no developer information was posted at all. This is the biggest indication to me of what kind of game this is and if it will be similar to Dark Souls/Bloodborne. The good news for me is that there is no developer listed so it may be a FromSoftware game. The bad news is if it is a FromSoftware title, why wouldn't that be shared since it is a huge selling point?

What is very interesting is the implied use of blood in this game. It does have a similar feeling like Bloodborne where you draw power from blood you collect from your enemies, but in more of a... well.. Action RPG feeling.

Code Vein uses a transformation system where you use your Blood Veils on enemies to drain their blood and activate "Gifts" that can change your character and how you play the game with new abilities and strengths. The above three pictures are from the Bandai Namco site with the titles CV_Blood Vein Transforming (Gauntlet)_2 through 4 respectively. This shows how much your character will change when you or your weapon transform. Something tells me the transformations of this game will be amazing and the backbone of what goes on.

The game was just announced so I will not try to speculate what the game will be, how it will be played or too much. From the screenshots and description given by Bandai Namco, Code Vein looks to be a very fun and possible co-op game. Co-op you say?!?!?!? POSSIBLY!!!! An excerpt from the overview says:

" Team up and embark on a journey to the ends of hell to unlock your past and escape your living nightmare in CODE VEIN."

In the Key Features section, it does say "choose your partner" so it does imply an AI partner, but "Team up" could suggest teaming up with a friend to take the adventure together. Again, too early to say anything definite about the game until more information and gameplay is released. While I can't say for sure it isn't a Dark Souls style of play, I get the strong feeling #PrepareToDine was used to get the attention of FromSoftware fans.

Follow us for more updates as we get them. We will be following this game closely.

For more information on the game and media, visit https://www.bandainamcoent.com/games/code-vein .